Meet the Conference Chairs

The content of BuildingEnergy Boston is curated by a volunteer committee of NESEA members, who collectively put in hundreds of hours throughout the year to ensure that sessions are data-driven, diverse and genuinely useful to attendees. We'd like to extend a special thank you to this year's committee, who received almost 200 proposals from NESEA members and the larger community and whittled them down into the 59 sessions you see today. To be a part of next year's planning committee, contact Beth Fraser, Director of Operations.

2017 Conference Co-Chairs

Heather Nolen is a NESEA lifetime member and a Senior Energy Consultant for Steven Winter Associates where she works to improve energy use in multifamily housing by focusing on buildings with steam space heating systems. She was honored to travel to Sweden and Denmark with fellow NESEA members to study the country's plans for carbon neutrality and approaches to improving energy use in buildings. Inspirational items on her desk are a steam trap (carried home from a site visit) and a snow globe of a girl on a bicycle that says...given a cape and a tiara she could save the world.

Stephan Wollenburg is an independent consultant focusing on renewable energy procurement and demand response markets. Before going solo, he worked at the Cape Light Compact and Mass Energy Consumer Alliance. Stephan received extra credit in a college class for attending his first BuildingEnergy, though he insists he attended because he was a true believer. Either way, he was hooked. Some find his love of numbers (especially spreadsheets!) somewhat off-putting, but tolerate it because he uses it for good. When not talking energy or crunching numbers, Stephan can be found running, gardening, or doting on his greyhounds.

2017 Conference Vice-Chairs

Elizabeth (Betsy) Glynn is the Northeast Regional Manager at the Center for Sustainable Energy (CSE), which has a mission to accelerate the transition to a sustainable world powered by clean energy. Based in Boston, she serves as the organization’s regional lead. Betsy is appointed as a voting member of the Massachusetts Energy Efficiency Advisory Council, representing residential consumers. Betsy holds a master’s degree in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University and a bachelor’s degree in Geosciences from Franklin & Marshall College.

Andrew Webster is a Designer and Project Manager at C&H Architects, where he specializes in Residential Design, with a focus on energy-smart retrofits and small, high-performance spaces. He is also trained as a HERS rater and is a Certified Passive House Consultant. Andrew taught for three years at Boston Architectural College as an instructor for a course he helped write and was recently published in NESEA's Spring 2016 BuildingEnergy issue for an article about residential design. He loves his high-performance clients and their high-performance homes, and he comes to BuildingEnergy Boston to get ready for another year of challenges.

2017 Content Committee

Alejandra Menchaca, Payette
Arah Schuur, MA DOER
Candace Pearson, Building Green
Caroline Petrovick, Harvard University
Christopher Nielson, Bruner / Cott
Danny Veerkamp, Bensonwood
Jodi Smits Anderson, DASNY
Jordan Bonomo, Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation
Liz McCormick, MIT
Margo Valdes, CLEAResult
Michelle Apigian, ICON Architecture
Nathan Phelps, Vote Solar
Robb Aldrich, Steven Winter Associates
Robert  Leaver, New Commons
Ted Hetzel, Petersen Engineering
Todd Olinsky-Paul, Clean Energy States Alliance